Thoughts from the Mountain Top

I've been a Mets fan all my life.  And I do mean, all my life.  I was about 3 years old when they won the World Series in 1969.  I have a memory of sitting in my living room watching a baseball game on our black and white television.  My parents were never sports fans.  Why do I have this memory?Something inside of me must have drawn me to it when flipping channels at a young age, or someone who was watching me one day had the game on.  It wasn't until 1975 that I really picked up on the game on my own.  By 1976 I had my father taking me to games; something I really think he grew to enjoy. All those years I was a fan.  They graced the basement position in the standings of the National League East.  They traded away some of their best players.  Still, I remained a fan.  I lived through the baseball strike in 1982.  By then Id figured out how to take the bus and trains into games myself.  In 1986 all of my faith was rewa...

When news broke of a possible new dress code in Trump's White House, it should have come as no surprise to anyone.  Let's face it, hes show he likes to surround himself with beautiful women whom he fantasizes all want him. It's a boost to his fragile ego. Of course he would want them to dress the part of the role they play in his fantasies, and he has the power to make them do that. The backlash wasn't unexpected, either.  I'm proud how many women stood up and said "this is what 'dressing like a woman' means" and showed off the various uniforms of their occupations: soldiers, doctors, astronauts, police officers, firemen, and even a Supreme Court judge.  I don't even know if these women exist in Trump's mind anyway. The only women he "sees" are the women who serve him and if they aren't falling all over themselves for him, they aren't really women anyway.  His rhetoric has made that apparent. What did surprise me, at least...

This right here is one reason Hillary Clinton lost the election.  Faux News and other right-wing outlets have, for years, been telling Christians that all "liberals" want to do is ban the Bible and make Christianity illegal.  The more people on the left say stuff like this, the more they push people to the right-wing. Back in 2004, I can remember people who worked for the Kerry campaign talk about going to West Virginia and talking to people there.  The biggest obstacle they faced?  The rhetoric of "Kerry wants to ban the Bible."  The very same people who wanted strong Unions and a cleaner environment voted for George W. Bush because of ideas like this on AM radio from the Rush Limbaughs of the right-wing. When I hear friends I normally agree with say "outlaw Christianity", "outlaw religion" or "tax the churches" I cringe.  I cringe because those words mean the people who have an interest in the issues of Progressives will never listen ...

I was baptized and raised in the Lutheran Church.  I have been a Lutheran all my life.  I worked with Lutheran Churches in New York and with several notable exceptions, I have found those that attend the Church and the Pastors to be wonderful people. Justification by faith alone is part of Luther's teaching.  It's something I am struggling with now and making me question more and more what I believe.  The longer I live and the more I believe and experience, I am not sure I am still on board with this part of our doctrine. Justification by faith:  asserts  God's  pardon for guilty  sinners  is granted to and received through faith alone, excluding all " works ". All mankind, it is asserted, is  fallen and sinful , under the  curse of God , and incapable of saving itself from  God's wrath  and curse. But God, on the basis of the life, death, and  resurrection of his Son ,  Jesus Christ  alone ( solus Chris...